1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to data analysis and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to systems and methods for ranking period combinations.
2. History Of Related Art
Anticipating the need for computing and/or network resources can be complicated. A user associated with an organization or entity can look at the resources used from one month to the next to determine whether additional resources will be needed in the future. However, this analysis is often not sufficient because, for example, the amount of resources used over a given time period is rarely static. Assuming the entity is a business, resource consumption is often greater during weekdays. Further, resource consumption may dip during lunch hours. In some cases, a time period that is normally associated with low resource consumption, such as midnight, may sometimes have a high resource consumption due, for example, to a scheduled backup operation or deduplication operation. In some cases, resource consumption may occasionally peak at a much higher level of consumption than the average consumption for an organization. In addition, various computing resources may be affected differently at different time periods or from different types of operations. In some cases, resource consumption may unexpectedly change due, for example, to a hiring spree or a successful product launch that may increase the use of computing resources (e.g., web servers, sales servers, etc.).
For at least the aforementioned reasons, comparing resource use on a scheduled periodic basis (e.g., monthly) may be insufficient for many organizations. Further, different types of resources may be consumed differently. For example, processor utilization may ebb and flow throughout each day, but the peak utilizations may remain constant within a threshold level of utilization. In contrast, storage utilization may increase over time due, for example, to maintaining scheduled backups of one or more storage devices (e.g., hard drives, solid states drives, etc.) associated with one or more computing systems. Moreover, as the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.